HIDDEN HISTORIES

The opening exhibit at Vancouver's Chinese Canadian Museum sheds new light on Canada's notorious Chinese Exclusion Act

- Jadine Ngan

THE WING SANG BUILDING is the oldest in Vancouver’s Chinatown, dating back to 1889, when the entrepreneur Yip Sang built it as a warehouse for his import-export business. Now it’s home to the city’s new Chinese Canadian Museum, which opened on July 1, marking the 100th anniversary of 1923’s Chinese Immigration Act, also known as the Chinese Exclusion Act. This policy halted all Chinese immigration to Canada until its repeal in 1947 and mandated that Chinese Canadians had to register with the government and carry photo identification, even if they were born in Canada. The museum’s grand opening exhibit,